UlsterNet.co.uk

Accies under-17s beaten in atrocious conditions

Thursday, 5 January 2012

Letterkenny under-17s 17. Omagh Accies under-17s 5.

OMAGH Accies under-17s, without much training or match time in the last month and with several changes of personnel, played Letterkenny in a league game on Wednesday, December 28.
The match was played in atrocious conditions and resulted in a close game which resulted in a win for Letterkenny - more down to them surviving the arctic winds, rain and hail, which had the referee running off the pitch for cover at one stage.
Playing into a gale, Omagh's forwards dominated with Murphy, Shortt and Hunter making good yards. When Omagh did release the backs, it was impossible to predict where the ball would go, but Barry Bradley consistently beat defenders to take play into the opposition '22'.
Freddie McDowell was a constant thorn in the Letterkenny side and won several turnovers and made good ground in attack. A frustrated Letterkenny player was red-carded for a spear tackle, which left McDowell with a stiff neck and luckily nothing worse.
From the penalty David Long made a great run down the line and chipped ahead - luckily for Letterkenny, their full-back was able to keep out Long and the flying Ryan Stewart.
Eventually Letterkenny used the gale to push play down to Omagh's line. Sterling defence from Kyle Arnold, Stewart Craig and Bradley kept the home team out - eventually force of numbers allowed Letterkenny in for a try under the posts, converted to leave it 7-0.
There then followed a hail storm and gale when even spectators were forced to take cover and all the players were suffering from exposure. The referee decided to call for half-time and see if conditions would improve.
At this stage everyone was ready to 'call it a day' in what must have been the worst conditions possible for rugby. However, things did improve and Omagh restarted the second half with the wind in their favour.
However, a few loose tackles and the Letterkenny outhalf scored under the posts to make it 12-0. Omagh started to use the wind and good play by James Shortt, William Barton and Eoin Murnaghan put Omagh in position for Lee McLaughlin to score and make things interesting with a good try to make it 12-5.
At this stage an injury to pack leader Gary Hunter meant he had to have X-rays on his neck, which thankfully was not a serious issue. Also Freddie McDowell and Kyle Arnold both left the field. Substitute Jason Donnell made a great effort to fill in at flanker including several tackles but Omagh were now playing players in positions they were not used to and Letterkenny managed to score another try to leave the final score at 17-5.
In spite of losing and in view of the injuries and lack of recent training this was a spirited performance by the young Omagh lads.
Omagh: Shane Gibson, Gary Hunter, Gareth Murphy, James Short, Brannagh McCabe, Freddie McDowell, Kyle Arnold, Lee McLaughlin, Eoin Murnaghan, Barry Bradley, Stewart Craig, David Long, William Barton, Gavin McIlwaine, Dylan Flanagan, Ryan Stewart and Jason Donnell.

Subscribe to read full newspaper »

Send this page to a friend »